WORLD HISTORY I
Syllabus
Philip Adler & Randall Pouwels, World Civilizations, 6th ed. vol.1: To 1700 (Wadsworth 2012).
Alfred Andrea & James Overfield, The Human Record: Sources of Global History, Volume I: to 1770, 7th edition (Houghton Mifflin 2011) [Readings noted by ITEM NUMBERS].
GRADES
Students' grades will be determined on the basis of five to six criteria:
| Syllabus Quiz & Survey (January 22) | 3% |
| 1st Exam (February 14) | 20% |
| 2nd Exam (March 28) | 25% |
| Final Exam (TBA) | 27% |
| Primary-Source-Text Analysis Essay [PSTA] (due March |
25% |
| Participation (active participation in Q&A and discussion can add to your grade.) | up to +5% |
Note: if the grades for the second and final exams are each at least 10 points higher than for the first exam (with a minimum score of 65), the grade for the first exam will be dropped and the grades for the second and final exam will count for 35% and 37% (respectively) of the final grade.
COURSE MEETINGS
Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays 2:00 to 2:50 in Hagg-Sauer 112
TOPIC & ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE
Take Note: the Topic & Assignment schedule is ambitious. Like any history course, this one requires a lot of reading. It is ESSENTIAL to do all the assigned reading. As I explain below, History is an encyclopedic discipline that requires assimilating lots of information. The content of the assigned readings will be covered in quizzes and examination even when they are not covered at any length in class. Students are responsible to keep up with the schedule and to know where and when we are. Students should expect to spend at least as much time working on course material outside of class as in class. (In fact, two hours outside for every one hour of class time is recommended: that's a total of five hours of preparation each week or about 75 hours of study and preparation outside of class for the whole semester.)
Week I: Adler & Pouwels, Ch.1-3, pp.1-42, & Ch.5 pp.55-66; Andrea/Overfield (see below)
January 13, 15, & 17: Course Introduction; The Beginnings of Civilization in SW Asia & NE Africa
Primary Source Texts from Andrea & Overfield:
Prologue
1. from Gilgamesh
2. from The Code of Hammurabi
3. from The Satire on the Trades
4. from The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant
Multiple Voices I: "Art in the service of the Monarchs of the Nile" (6 Artworks)
Week II: Adler & Pouwels, Ch.4 + 6, pp.43-54 + 67-78; Andrea/Overfield (see below)
January 20: MLK DAY: NO CLASSES
January 22 & 24: The Beginnings of Civilization in the Indus Valley & China
January 22: Syllabus Quiz & Survey
Primary Source Texts from Andrea & Overfield:
5. "The Priest King" and "The Hagia Triada Sarcophagus"
6. Indus, Mesopotamian, & Cretan Seals
7. from The Book of Documents
8. from The Book of Songs
9. from The Rig Veda
14. from The Upanishads
15. from The Bhagavad Gida (part of The Mahabharata)
16. The Buddha, Setting in motion the wheel of the law
17. The Buddha, Questions that tend not to edification
20. Laozi, The Classic of the Way and Virtue
21. Confucius, Analects
22. Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian
27. Huan Kuan, Discourses on Salt & Iron
Week III: Adler & Pouwels, Ch.7, pp. 79-89
January 27, 29, & 31: Catch-up & The Beginnings of Civilization in Mesoamerica
Week IV: Adler & Pouwels, Ch.5, 8-9, pp.55-65, 90-118; Thucydides, from The History of the Peloponnesian War: ("The Melian Dialog"); Andrea/Overfield (see below)
February 3, 5, 7: Phoenecians, Hebrews, Persians, & Greeks
Primary Source Texts from Andrea & Overfield:
10. Homer, The Odyssey
12. from The Book of Genesis
13. from The Book of Deuteronomy
18. Zarathustra, Gathas
19. from The Book of Isaiah
23. Herodotus, Histories (and the Golden Comb with Battle Scene)
24. Euripides, The Bacchae
25. Plato, The Phaedo
26. Four Hellenic Sculptures
33. Four Hellenistic Works of Art
40. from The Babylonian Talmud
Thucydides, from The History of the Peloponnesian War: ("The Melian Dialog")
Week V: Exam#1 Guide
February 10 & 12: Catch-Up
February 14: FIRST EXAMINATION
Week VI: Adler & Pouwels, Ch.10-11, pp.119-154; Andrea/Overfield (see below); Cicero, from On the Republic
February 17, 19, & 21: Roman Civilization & Empire
Primary Source Texts:
link: Cicero, from On the Republic
34. from Caesar Augustus, The Accomplishments of the Deified Augustus
35. Two sculptures of Augustus Caesar
39. from Apuleius, Metamorphoses
41. from The Gospel of Saint Matthew
42. from Saint Paul to the Romans
43. Two Roman-Christian Mosaics in Ravenna
Multiple Voices IV: One Christianity or Many
Week VII: Adler & Pouwels, Ch.12, pp.155-168; Andrea/Overfield (see below);
February 24, 26, & 28: Classical India
Primary Source Texts from Andrea & Overfield:
31. Asoka, Rock & Pillar Edicts
32. Faxian, Travels
60. from Abul Raihan al-Biruni, Description of India
61. from Vikrama's Adventures
62. sculpture: The Lovers
Week VIII: Adler & Pouwels, Ch.13, pp.169-83; Andrea/Overfield (see below)
March 3, 5, & 7: Imperial China, from the Qin through the Tang Dynasties
Primary Source Texts from Andrea & Overfield:
27. Huan Kuan, Discourses on Salt & Iron
28. Ban Zhao, Lessons for Women
54. from Du Fu, Poems
Multiple Voices VI: Buddhism in China
March 10-14: NO CLASSES
Week IX: Adler & Pouwels, Ch.18-19, pp.237-264; Andrea/Overfield (see below)
March 17, 19, & 21: Early Imperial Japan & Post-Classical China (The Song & Yuan Dynasties)
Primary Source Texts from Andrea & Overfield:
51. from The Chronicles of Japan
52. from Sei Shonagon, The Pillow Book
82. from William of Rubruck, Journey to the Land of the Tartars
83. from Marco Polo, Description of the World
84. from Orderic of Pordenone Report ... of Hangzhou (called Cansay)
85. from Francesco Pegalotti, The Practice of Commerce
Week X: Exam#2 Guide; Other Readings as above
March 24 & 26: Catch-Up
MARCH
March 28: SECOND EXAMINATION
Week XI: Adler & Pouwels, Ch. 11, pp.138-54 & Ch.15-16, pp.200-222; Andrea/Overfield (see below)
March 31, April 2, & 4: Islam through the Twelfth Century
Primary Source Texts from Andrea & Overfield:
46. from The Quran
47. from Abu Abdullah Ibn Ismail Al-Bukhari, The Authentic Traditions
48. from Ibn Babawayah al-Saduq, Creed Concerning the Imams
49. from Mahmud Kati, The Chronicle of the Seeker
50. Miniature of Sufis performing Sama
Multiple Voices V: Islam & Unbelievers
57. from Ibn Jubayr, Travels
Week XII: Adler & Pouwels Ch.20. pp.265-82, & Ch.21, pp.283-96; Andrea/Overfield (see below)
April 7 & 11: Christian European Civilization (I of II)
April 9: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DAY
Primary Source Texts from Andrea & Overfield:
63. Mosaics in San Vitale, Ravenna
64. from Michael Psellus, Chronographia
65. from The Sacramentary of Charles the Bald
67. from Dictatus Papae & Letter of Henry IV to Hildebrand, & A treatise on Royal & Papal Power
68. Fresco illustrating the Donation of Constantine
69. from Anna Comnena, The Alexiad
85. from Francesco Pegalotti, The Practice of Commerce
Multiple Voices VII: Byzantium & The West
Week XIII: None Additional
April 14, 16, & 18: Christian European Civilization (II of II)
Week XIV: Adler & Pouwels, Ch. 14, pp.187-99
April 21, 23, & 25: Catch-up and the Americas to the fifteenth century
Week XV: Adler & Pouwels Ch.24, 26. pp.337-49, 267-77; Andrea/Overfield (see below)
April 28 & 30: Later Medieval Islam & Ming China
APRIL 30: Last Day to Submit a revised PSTA
Primary Source Texts from Andrea & Overfield:
79. from The Book of John Mandeville
87. from Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, Embassy to Tamerlane
88. from Ma Huan, The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores
FINAL EXAMINATION: (TBA)
Final Exam Guide
ABOUT HISTORY & ABOUT THIS COURSE
This course is designed to familiarize students with the History of World Civilizations, especially in their political, cultural, and intellectual aspects, from the most ancient more than 5000 years ago to the end of the Medieval period around 500 years ago. That is an enormous sweep of time and we cannot help but be selective and ephemeral in noting "important" events, personalities, creations, and ideas. Nevertheless, for many students this is a tough course, despite its 1000-level because there is still a very large amount of data to assimilate. Students are allowed to consult any notes they themselves have taken when taking the two examinations in this course. Do not forsake this opportunity: notes on the class-meetings, textbook chapters, and primary source readings can really help.
"History" is a word with several meanings. It can mean simply what has happened--all that has happened--before. This sense of the word, "history," is what can be called "History as Fact." For someone to be considered "educated," knowing some history is important. Furthermore, the rhetoric of our national politics and policy frequently invokes past times, personalities, and decisions; those who don't know history place themselves at the mercy of others who can twist the past into an excuse for whatever they want to do. History is encyclopedic - to analyze and to reason historically, one must have a deep pool of information from which to draw.
The discipline of History is based on certain methods and standards of analysis and reasoning. To learn "History as a Discipline" one must have that deep pool of information, of History as Fact. This course is designed to introduce students to historical analysis & reasoning. I have placed a heavy emphasis in this course on reading, explicating, and reasoning with and about primary-source texts. Students taking this course will learn to read, understand, and analyze primary source texts in relation to those texts' particular cultural, intellectual, and/or situationial contexts.
THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES OF THIS COURSE
The Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) for the B.A./B.S. in History are as follows:
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1. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the historical development of the cultures and institutions of the contemporary world.
2. Students will demonstrate awareness of the historical development of communities and citizenship.
3. Students will demonstrate the ability to reason through analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of historical evidence.
4. Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate historical knowledge and reasoning effectively, orally and in writing, both individually and in cooperative learning venues. And
5. Students will demonstrate the ability to advance historical interpretations based on effective use of primary-source evidence and some understanding of the ways in which this evidence has been used by historians of the past.
For this course specifically, the SLOs are the introduction and practice of:
1) Greater knowledge of World History to 1500, accumulating a database in your own head of the sweep of World History: persons, places, dates (at least some), ideas, patterns of organization & change, and comparative features. Globalization makes such knowledge more important for more people than it has ever been. And for this class, we need a common set of data in order to develop the skills discussed below. [corresponds to History B.A. Learning Outcome 1 + 2: "Students will demonstrate knowledge of the historical development of the cultures and institutions of the contemporary world." And "Students will demonstrate the awareness of the historical development of communities and citizenship."]
2) Skill in analyzing and interpreting (contextualizing) primary-source texts. This is the single most generally applicable and important skill you can learn from history. It is the core of any "historical method." I have redesigned this course to concentrate on this skill. [corresponds to History B.A. program learning outcome 3 & 4: "Students will demonstrate the ability to reason through analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of historical evidence." and Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate historical knowledge and reasoning effectively, orally and in writing, both individually and in cooperative-learning venues."]
3) Some knowledge of historical interpretations and awareness that these have changed over time in ways that reflect the values and emphases of the particular age and historian. This is called "historiography," the history of historical writing. [corresponds to History B.A. program learning outcome 3: "Students will demonstrate the ability to reason through analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of historical evidence."]
ACADEMIC POLICIES
1. DECORUM
I expect students to attend class and that classes will proceed in an atmosphere of mutual respect and decorum. Carrying on private conversations, reading, texting, I-Ming and eating during class are distracting and disrespectful to your colleagues and to me and violate decorum. If I notice students engaging in such behaviors, I will take this in consideration and may take action as needed.
2. PLEASE TURN OFF ALL CELL-PHONES, PAGERS, TEXT-MESSENGERS, & AUDIO/VIDEO DEVICES BEFORE CLASS BEGINS. STUDENTS DISCOVERED USING ANY OF THESE DEVICES WHILE CLASS IS IN SESSION WILL BE INSTRUCTED TO LEAVE THE CLASS THAT DAY.
3. USE OF NOTES
Students are encouraged to take notes during class and while reading the text(s) and any other assigned materials. For Examinations, students may consult any notes they themselves have taken on the readings and during class meetings. Because of the growing mass of material, bad and good, available on the Internet, no printed, word-processed, or photocopied materials may be used during examinations without permission from me.
4. REVISING PAPERS; LATE PAPERS
Papers that have been submitted by the deadline (MARCH 21), may be revised and submitted for a (hopefully) improved grade. Papers must be submitted WITH THE GRADED ORIGINAL by the last class session (APRIL 30). Papers that have been submitted after the deadline will will not be eligible for revision/resubmission.
5. PLAGIARY
Plagiary is academic fraud. It is a serious academic offense that is not acceptable. In this course, plagiarized papers will be graded F=0. Additional penalties are possible if there are exacerbating circumstances. Consult the BSU Student Handbook for more information.
6. EXTRA CREDIT??
I do not believe in giving extra credit for things that are not strictly part of the course. The way to do better is to do better on the various assignments.
7. SPECIAL RULES
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A. Quod principi (id est, mihi) placuit, legis habet vigorem.
B. Princeps legibus solutus est (idest, ego sum).
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